Friedrich Merz: between BlackRock and the Chancellery

The CDU leader presents himself as a man of the people – despite a multimillion past in the world of finance. Why do so many listen to him?
By Finn Winkler (text), Martin Steger (photos)

The politician and former BlackRock supervisory board chairman Friedrich Merz seen from behind, lit by two spotlights. His outline forms a silhouette against the light. The wiring at his right ear suggests a TV interview.

It is a sunny morning in early September, shortly before the 2023 Bavarian state election. Friedrich Merz steps onto the stage in the packed beer tent in Abensberg. The air is hot and a little stuffy, the mood exuberant. Merz wears a simple grey traditional jacket, perhaps to win over the residents of the small Lower Bavarian town. Numerous top politicians gather at the ‘political Gillamoos’.

Friedrich Merz uses the opportunity to take a clear stance. ‘Kreuzberg is not Germany,’ he proclaims into the microphone. ‘Gillamoos is Germany!’ These words spark debate across the country. His speech makes the evening news, and his face adorns the front pages the next day.

The speech on the Gillamoos meadow shows how Merz tries to emphasise certain cultural and social themes. While he takes up popular opinions, he also draws criticism for his often polarising positions.

On that sunny morning in the beer tent, Merz stresses that Gillamoos represents the ‘real’ Germany. A quick online search, however, shows that Kreuzberg is also an integral part of Germany – and that far more people live there than in Abensberg. When Friedrich Merz isn’t talking about urban Germany, he often focuses on the integration problems of young people with a migrant background and talks about ‘little pashas’. He also occasionally comments on topics such as dental care for asylum seekers and alleged welfare tourism, which regularly causes public outrage.

Friedrich Merz sits among guests in traditional dress in a packed beer tent at the political Gillamoos in Abensberg, beer mugs in front of him – CDU campaign in Bavaria — **Friedrich Merz sits** with the Bavarian minister-president Markus Söder in a beer tent.

Friedrich Merz and Markus Söder hold up banners on stage at the Gillamoos in Abensberg reading ‘We will rock the Gillamoos 2023 together!’ — Politischer GillaMoos in Abensberg; Freidrich Merz & Markus Söder, Landtagswahl Bayern;

When Friedrich Merz isn’t talking about urban Germany, he often focuses on the integration problems of young people with a migrant background.

Friedrich Merz speaks on a stage under a lighting truss in the Stadthalle Kelkheim, the audience sits in semi-darkness – CDU election campaign — **Final campaign rally** in Hesse with the former Hessian minister-president Roland Koch

A smiling woman shakes hands with Friedrich Merz, seen from behind in a dark suit, at the CDU party conference at Messe München-Riem — **With the Bundestag member Dorothee Bär** at the CSU party conference in Munich

The picture shows the CDU politician and former BlackRock supervisory board chairman Friedrich Merz holding up a net full of potatoes in one hand and, in the other, a document reading ‘CDU in the district of Harburg for more than 70 years’. Next to him, another person is handing over a gift. Merz is smiling. — **At the end** of a campaign speech, with a gift

Friedrich Merz sits with Lower Saxony CDU lead candidates in a café in Hameln, a blurred older woman with tinted glasses in the foreground — **With leading Lower Saxony candidates** in a café

Friedrich Merz and Bernd Althusmann shake hands on the brightly lit stage of the VEC-Halle in Vechta as the audience applauds – CDU election campaign — **On stage** with Bernd Althusmann

The CDU leader Friedrich Merz at a party meeting. He stands on a platform in the background, while in the foreground men can be seen from behind who could not find room in the hall and are listening to the speech through a doorway. — ahlkampfveranstaltung Wahlkampf Niedersachsen; © Martin Steger

A coffee cup and a half-eaten doughnut lie on a flyer showing portraits of the Berlin CDU team at the closing campaign event in Berlin — **CDU team flyers** at the final rally of the Berlin state election campaign

Between the backs of two men in suits, Friedrich Merz and presenter Claus Kleber can be seen on stage at the German Savings Banks Day in Hannover — Deutscher Sparkassentag, Friedrich Merz & Moderator Claus Kleber

Friedrich Merz stands in a blue jacket holding notes in front of a hedge at the Blumenhalle Wiesmoor while his press team records a video link – CDU campaign — **During a video call** with his press team

The Gillamoos speech illustrates Friedrich Merz’s desire to appear close to ordinary people. When he says that Gillamoos is Germany and Kreuzberg is not, he fuels the feeling that politics in this country is made primarily for a privileged elite in the city centres. After the Gillamoos speech, DER SPIEGEL speculated that Merz might be trying to create a certain illusion: the illusion that the former BlackRock executive and multimillionaire Merz is close to ordinary people; the illusion that Merz is on the side of whichever beer-tent crowd he happens to be addressing.

But Friedrich Merz also has another side, away from the beer tent. For years he worked for BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. Merz himself once said in an interview with Anne Will that he had very much enjoyed working for BlackRock. It had been the first company, he said, for which ecological, social and societal issues played a role in the capital markets.

Some observers take an extremely critical view of the asset manager. As the Tagesspiegel reported in 2018, at the time of Merz’s political comeback: ‘Critics accuse BlackRock of torpedoing competition, deliberately privatising pensions to its own advantage, working very closely with authorities and thereby also influencing the regulation of the financial sector.’ BlackRock’s approach to its environmental responsibility has also been criticised. The political TV magazine ‘Monitor’ reported that in twelve of the most climate-damaging major projects worldwide, BlackRock had been the largest investor in the companies involved.

Until 2021, Merz also worked as senior counsel in the Düsseldorf office of the law firm Mayer Brown. ZEIT ONLINE noted in 2018 that this law firm was profiting in its own way from the cum-ex tax theft: the firm wanted to help its clients counter the growing legal risk from cum-ex transactions. In the cum-ex deals, a number of banks had enriched themselves on a large scale at the public’s expense. The main beneficiaries were an elite far more privileged than the population of Kreuzberg.

Friedrich Merz’s polarising statements and his play on cultural contrasts symbolise the divisions within German society. His ability to shape the political agenda and spark debate means that he plays a central role in Germany’s political discourse – despite, or precisely because of, the many controversies.

About the photos in this article

Photographer Martin Steger has followed the CDU leader for two years. He saw Friedrich Merz at the election campaigns in Hesse, Bavaria, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Swan-shaped pedal boats on the Aasee in Ibbenbüren; in the background Friedrich Merz speaks at the beach club during the CDU state election campaign in North Rhine-Westphalia — **CDU campaigning** for the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament

Friedrich Merz laughs and throws both arms in the air at the CDU’s Hesse state election campaign launch at the Union Halle in Frankfurt — AUFTAKT IN DIE HESSENWAHL, Friedrich Merz nach Rede;

Close-up during a group photo at the Aasee beach club in Ibbenbüren: a hand wearing a bracelet rests on the back of Friedrich Merz’s dark jacket – CDU campaign — Wahlkampf: Friedrich Merz Landtagswahl Nordrhein-Westfalen, Gruppenfoto; © Martin Steger

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